Second Chance
by AnotherStatsGuy
Summary: Naegi has just fallen to his doom. And now Kirigiri realizes that not once has anybody. not Maizono, not her, ever apologized to Naegi. She owes him one.
1. A Debt To Pay

. After Naegi's execution and subsequent drop into the trash room, Kirigiri made a trip to her father's private quarters that she had only recently discovered. Sitting at the only computer any of the students had any possibility access to...  
_"Naegi, I'm sorry. I let you take it for me. And I did nothing. You may not have been killed in that execution thanks to Alter-Ego, but you're stuck in that trash room with no chance of escape."_  
_"It's okay, Kirigiri!"_  
_"Could it be... Alter-Ego?"_  
_"Yes, it's me."_  
_"But how did you survive?"  
"This computer is connected to the network just like the laptop."_  
_"Listen, Alter-Ego. Could you stay hidden on this computer? The Mastermind thinks you've been permanently deleted."_  
_"No problem. How's Naegi?"_  
_"He's done for. You saved him from the execution, but now he's going to starve to death in the trash room, and it's all my fault."_  
Alter-Ego morphed into Naegi's face.  
_"No, it isn't."_  
_"But I let him be voted guilty."_  
_"I have something to show you. It might just restore your hope."_  
_"I doubt anything could do that."_  
Alter-Ego pulled up the video feed from the camera in the trash room. It showed Naegi still alive. He had surrounded himself in newspapers. He looked hungry, but alive.  
_"Kirigiri, there's still a way you could save him."_  
_"What? How?"_  
_"There's a way to get into the trash room. You know the incinerator room?"_  
_"Yeah?"_  
_"You know that hatch down?"_  
_"Are you saying I can get into the trash room?"_  
_"Aren't you the one with the Master Key?"_  
_"Alter-Ego?"_  
_"Yes."_  
_"Thank you."_  
_"You know, I was able to finish decrypt some of the other files. And I found something particularly interesting."_  
_"Yes?"_  
_"Naegi wasn't originally slated to join you."_  
_"What?"_  
_"I don't know the full details, but apparently the students here were all grouped together for something."_  
_"Okay, and what about Naegi? Why wasn't he originally slated to join us?"_  
_"Well, he was supposed to be left out, but the headmaster was forced to include him."_  
_"Why?"_  
_"Well, when not just a beloved pop star, but his own daughter as well threatened to withdraw from this program you were all slated for if Naegi wasn't included. Well, if he didn't have a choice before, Mukuro Ikusaba holding him at gunpoint certainly sealed him."_  
Kirigiri looked stunned.  
_"You mean, myself, Maizono, and Mukuro Ikusaba, who've none of us have supposedly ever met before basically threatened to abstain from this without Naegi?"_  
_"Yes. The three of you voiced the concerns of the rest of the group. Apparently, nobody felt it was fair to have Naegi excluded from this."  
"Really, so it's all of our faults that Naegi's in his current predicament? Though Naegi surprassed my expectations with his emotional durability, he still shouldn't have had to go through this."_  
_"Neither should you or anybody else here. But_ y_ou see, from what I found of Naegi's evalution, it wasn't just because he was the Super Duper Good Luckster that he got in. They had an interview process to make sure Naegi was indeed worthy of coming here."_  
_"Okay. And?"_  
_"What they found was interesting: 'His lack of a talent is his greatest strength. Despite being supposedly 'average to the most average' in his own words, he seems to have a great ability to bring out the best in people. His interests are extremely varied. He could hold a conversation with anybody about just about any topic that might come up.'"_  
_"So what you're saying is that Naegi got in because he's such a wild card?"_  
_"Yes, he got in because unlike the rest of the Super Duper Highschoolers, Naegi's not just a one note person. As a matter of fact, he inspired Hope's Peak to begin looking into 'talent research'."_  
_"Talent Research?"_  
_"Yes, to see how people developed their talents."_  
_"I see."_  
_"Before you go rescue Naegi, Kirigiri, there's one more thing you should know."_  
_"What is it?"_  
_"That your father gathered everybody here to create a future that the rest of humanity never could."_  
_"But it's been derailed."_  
_"Not quite. Like I said, Naegi's not a one-note person. Rescue him, and it all could be okay, relatively speaking."_  
_"It's not okay! It's never going to be okay. Maizono's dead. Ikusaba's dead. My classmates are dying."_  
_"While I know about Maizono's death, Ikusaba's death is a bit of mystery."_  
_"How do you know?"_  
_"Back when I was still on the laptop, Naegi came in to and I quote 'fill me on what had already happened'."  
_"What did he fill you in on?"  
_"Maizono's murder. Enoshima's death. Kuwata's execution."_  
_"And, what was his reaction to Maizono's death?"_  
_"It almost broke him."_  
_"Really?"_  
_"The only person he had known coming into Hope's Peak had attempted to frame him for murder."_  
_"I'm not surprised."_  
_"But this will, his biggest regret over the situation."_  
_"And that is?"_  
_"Naegi's biggest regret was Maizono never got a chance to apologize to Leon."_  
_"What?! Even when someone frames him for murder, Naegi still believes the best in people."_  
_"Yes, he does."_  
_"Alter-Ego?"_  
_"Thank you. I'm going to go get Naegi now."_  
. Leaving the quarters, Kirigiri was going to rescue Naegi from the trash room. She was absolutely determined to do so. She didn't even care if he hated her for the rest of his life. He had every right to. He could have called her bluff in the last class trial, positioning her to die, but he chose to guarantee her life. She had to apologize. That was all that mattered now, especially since both parties had been so grievously wounded emotionally. She had been so by her father, and Naegi had been by Maizono.  
. Thinking back on it, Kirigiri remembered a conversation she had had with Maizono, merely hours before her death. It was how she knew that Maizono tried to save Naegi in her final moments. She hadn't told Naegi because she feared it might end up hurting him more. She had kept it in reserve for the first class trial... just in case it was impossible to convince them that Naegi HADN'T killed Maizono.  
_**"Kirigiri?"**_  
_**"Maizono."**_  
_**"Do you think we could all make it out?"**_  
_**"We'll see. Why? Is there someone you want to get out in particular?"**_  
_**"Ummm, well you see..."**_  
_**"It's Naegi, isn't it?"**_  
_**"How did you know?"**_  
_**"I can see it in your eyes. He's impressed you, hasn't he?"**_  
_**"Yes."**_  
_**"I'm curious. Why?"**_  
_**"Why do you want to know?" **_**Maizono shot defensively.**  
_**"I'd like to know about my classmates. If we're going to get out of here, it's going to be as a team, and the more I know about the team, the better."**_  
_**"I see, well, I went to the same middle school as Naegi."**_  
_**"Were you in the same class?"**_  
_**"No. But one time, he rescued a crane in the middle of the school pool."**_  
_**"Ah. I see. His kind heart left a mark."**_  
_**"I wanted to talk to him, but my friends never gave me a chance. He was always tormented in middle school, and my friends were afraid that I would become the target of the same torment."**_  
_**"Naegi was bullied in middle-school?"**_  
_**"Yes, he was forever the grade's butt-monkey."**_  
_**"I would think that three years of that might damage his optimism."**_  
_**"Well, I'm glad to see it hasn't. To be honest, I wanted to go to him and apologize for not helping him."**_  
_**"Maizono?"**_  
_**"Yes?"**_  
_**"Why are you telling me of all people?"**_  
_**"Even in this situation, you're in control of your emotions, so I believe you can make sounder observations about everything than the guys or any other girls. And I'm not going to talk to Naegi."**_  
_**"Perhaps you should."**_  
**Maizono smiled.**  
. Kirigiri left her father's living quarters and began to make preparations to go rescue Naegi. She began by grabbing a bag out of her room, and sneaking into the kitchen and filled it up with bread and bottles of water. She owed Naegi one. She owed an apology.


	2. Togami's Thought Process

After rescuing Naegi from the trash room, and the trial of Mukuro Ikusaba Mark II was underway. Kirigiri was off investigating by herself, looking for proof to who the mastermind might be, as well as conclusive proof that the mastermind wasn't her.  
**"It has to be the mastermind. It wasn't Naegi. And the other four have alibis. Leaving me to be the only one without a firm alibi."  
**Kirigiri was so lost in thought that she almost didn't notice that she had run into Togami on the 3rd floor.  
_"So you went and rescued him?_  
_"Indeed."_  
_"I'm curious. Why did you go alone?"_  
_"Why are you so concerned about me going alone?"_  
_"Because whether I like or not, after Celeste's execution, you and Naegi are the only other competent people here."_  
_"Did you consider Celeste competent?"_  
_"Of course, I didn't interact with her much. But after hearing that she won a shogi tournament, I did play a game of shogi with her."_  
_"You're lucky Fukawa wasn't there."_  
_"Indeed. But anyway, I barely beat her, and then she told me that she didn't know how to play."_  
_"What?"_  
_"Yes, apparently, she won a shogi tournament without knowing how to play."_  
_"That's - what?"_  
_"Even so, her moves on the board were superb. In other words, her learning curve was extremely steep."_  
_"I see. And that's why you considered her competent."_  
_"Between throwing out gaming concepts like the Prisoner's Dilemma on the fly to our situation, and her ability to stragetize. Yes. Hmph. You know Naegi harbors a small crush on you, do you not?"_  
_"Hmmm."_  
_"Hmmm. What? He's incredibly loyal to you, and I'm not surprised. You patched him up emotionally after Maizono's betrayal. See, I took your advice about not discounting emotions as pointless."_  
_"Then you should know why I went after Naegi."_  
_"Because without him, we don't have a chance."_  
_"If that's what you want to believe."_  
_"Indeed. Naegi has forced the endgame. I suspect, much sooner than the Mastermind wanted."_  
_"What makes you want to say that?"_  
_"Well, if you look at it from this angle, the fewer people there are, the harder it gets to murder. Once you get down to three people alive, it becomes downright impossible."_  
_"Why?"_  
_"Well, alright let's say you have Person A, Person B, and Person C alive."_  
_"Okay."_  
_"And one person kills Person C."_  
_"Then you're left with two people left at the trial."_  
_"Precisely. Is the non-murderer really going to let themselves get executed?"_  
_"I see your point."_  
_"So you reach an impasse at best. At worst, the murderer is proven even though it's already known. And that leaves one person."_  
_"And what happens to that one person?"_  
_"Well, it's safe to say that they wouldn't get to leave. They didn't murder someone after all. That one person has to live here for the rest of their life, slowly going insane without anybody to talk to, knowing that the ghosts of their classmates haunt these walls. And I suspect that's what the mastermind wanted. To broadcast a lone person slowly losing their mind."_  
_"So what's your point?"_  
_"My point is that I had this figured out about a lone person going insane from the get-go. I wanted to be the one person that survived."_  
_"Why? You would just go mad like you said the mastermind wanted."_  
_"Not necessarily. You see, Kirigiri, do you know what it means to be an introvert, especially considering you're one yourself?"_  
_"I know what an introvert is."_  
_"Then you should that I am one. My goal was to win this game without murdering."_  
_"So your plan basically amounted to staying alive until the murders stopped and having everyone still alive just waiting until the mastermind ran out of patience."_  
_"Exactly. I'm an expert at manufacturing backdoor ways to succeed at tasks. And I've discovered that every fair set of rules have weak points that you can exploit."  
"And why didn't you mention this before?"  
"Because then Monokuma would just patch the rules."  
"Togami, a question about your what-if scenario, what-if last person alive got leave regardless of whether they murdered or not?"  
"Then what would happen is that everybody else would hope everybody else murders someone else."  
"That's dark."  
"But you see, what it means is that nobody would actually murder. Which is the exact opposite of what the mastermind wants. All of us would simply wait for everybody else to die off. That's what the motives were for."  
"Motives?"  
"Yes, the motives were meant to make us lose patience with getting back to the outside world. I also suspect they were meant to keep the mastermind from getting bored."  
"SO... are you suggesting we should have spent our time from Day 1 trolling the mastermind and generally acting like obnoxious teenagers until we got out?"  
"Well, I suppose that might have worked, but who's to say the mastermind wouldn't have just added new rules to stop us from trolling. Do you remember Enoshima? He provoked her into violence so he could flat out destroy her. Who's to say he wouldn't recycle that idea?"  
"Recycle? Togami, that's brilliant."  
"What is?"  
"I suspect there's more to this case than meets the eye."  
"What are you, a classic Transformers fangirl? We already know that."_  
_"No, no. 'Recycled.' I'm going to go up to the biology lab. You continue looking for information."_  
_" I said you were competent. I didn't say you were the general."_  
Kirigiri grinned.  
_"No, that's Naegi's job."_  
_"What? No. It's not."_  
_"Oh, no, I'm Byakuya Togami, and screw the rules, I have money!"_  
_"What?"_  
_"It's a Yugioh Abridged reference. Because you're like Seto Kaiba."_  
_"Okay... __Who's Seto Kaiba?"  
"Togami, first order of business when you get out of here. You need to spend more time on the Internet."  
"The internet? What's wrong with a good old biography? Or case files?"  
"Nothing except it puts you so severely out of your element when you have to interact with other teenagers like a normal one."  
"Hmmph."  
_Kirigiri walked off, leaving Togami behind her.


	3. That First Night

I thought this story was complete... but then I got an idea for a Chapter 3, ... so neigh, it is not. It's already my most reviewed and most viewed story. Please feel free to view my profile page, click on its links, and my other stories as well.

_"It's good to get out of there."_ Asahina commented to Kirigiri that first night. The rest of their group was asleep. Though outside forces had attempted to separate them that day, the seven of them were all together. They had found and added Naegi's sister to their party. She had wrapped her arms around her big brother. It was almost a mutual protection scenario.  
_"Yes, it is."_ Kirigiri replied. _"He seems so peaceful, he's actually smiling now."_  
_"He smiled in there."_ Asahina replied.  
_"Sometimes. Okay, not really. But compared to the rest of us, he's a right little ball of sunshine."_  
_"Hmm, what do you mean?"  
"Yeah... anytime he smiled after Maizono's death, it was a fake smile."_  
_"You could tell?"_  
_"I'm the Super Duper High School Detective, and Naegi's an open book."_  
_"I see. But wait, won't you need to see Naegi smile for real in order to decipher a fake smile?"  
"I did, on that first day, but it's not necessary, there are certain facial features that gave it away."  
"Like?"  
"Smile for real."  
"Okay."  
"Now feel the skin on the outside of your eyes, it's crinkled up slightly. That's a cue right there. If it isn't crinkled, the person isn't actually smiling."  
"Huh. I never knew that."  
"It's something you pick up as a detective."  
"So every smile Naegi ever put on after Maizono's death was fake?"  
"Save one."  
"Really? Which one?"  
"The smile he gave me after I rescued him from the trash room."  
"I see. You think it was because he finally knew that, for once, his trust had been validated?"  
"Yeah. I think it is. Especially considering the state we found him after Maizono's death."  
"Oh yeah."  
Asahina thought back.  
_**There he was, in a near-fetal position, his bathroom room door open, across from Maizono's corpse. There Naegi was, muttering "I'm sorry. I promise I would get you out. I'm sorry." over and over again. Asahina, Oowada, Kirigiri, and Oogami had gone.  
"Guys! GET OVER HERE! NOW" Asahina had shouted down to the cafeteria.  
In a few minutes, most of the group had arrived. First, Leon, and then Ishimaru, followed by Celeste and Fujaski, and Yamada had come up in the rear.  
"Oh No." Fujaski started crying.  
"Damn it. We're out of time." Oowada said. "A murder has happened, so now that person simply gets leave while the rest of us are stuck in here. But what's stopping us from keeping that person in?" Oowada began cracking his knuckles.  
"Oowada, ... one of our classmates murdered someone, is it worth more bloodshed to stop them?" Ishimaru said.  
"What? Are you saying we're supposed to let the perp go free clean?" Oowada replied.  
"I did not say that. As soon as we establish connection with the outside world, we will smear the murderer's name. We'll let society do the rest."  
"What good is smearing someone's name?"  
"It has a lot more potential than you could ever realize. Are you familiar with the former Prime Minister, Toranosuke Ishimaru?" Celeste asked. "He was elected Prime Minister, but after only a few months, he had to leave office because of a scandal. His family suffered embarrassment. From what I've heard in the underground gambling scene, they still haven't recovered."  
"That... that is correct." Ishimaru confirmed.  
****"As much I would like that to be the sequence of events that happens, **it's** probably not going to be that simple." Kirigiri said.  
****"What? Why do you say that?" Kuwata asked.  
****"We can't just assume murdering someone triggers the ability to escape. I expect he has a Phase Two in the event someone murders."  
****Ding-Dang-Dong. A corpse has been discovered. Since this is the first murder, head over to the gym for what happens now.  
****"See what did I tell you, Oowada?" Kirigiri said. "Oogami, why don't you carry Naegi over to the gym? He'll need to be there when he wakes up."  
"Do you think the kid will be alright when he wakes up and realizes this isn't a dream?" Oowada asked.  
"Ummm... not to be a bother, but could we possibly move this conversation to outside Naegi's room? I feel extremely squeamish looking at her corpse and all these sword slashes." Fujaski timidly requested.  
"What? Oh yeah."  
"Wait, Fujaski, did you say sword slashes?" Kirigiri asked.  
"Yeah... there's a sword and a scabbard here."  
"Shame it's not Excalibur and it's scabbard, then we could use to smite Monokuma!" Yamada said.  
"What, Yamada, when did you get here?" Kuwata said.  
"I've been here the whole time!"  
"Oh, is that so?"  
"We might as well go to the gym." Kirigiri said. "The faster we find out about this 'Phase Two' the better."  
While they were waiting for Naegi to awake, Monokuma had popped up.  
"Listen, since hoodie over there is still unconscious, I'll explain everything about the Class Trial later."  
"Class Trial?" Togami asked.  
"Yeah, I explained it to Maizono as she sat there dying in the shower. I wanted to see her despair right before she died. Do you want to know what Maizono's last words were!"  
"Of course we want to know you dimwit! Now spill!" Oogami threatened.  
"Too bad. If I tell you them, it'll interfere with the class trial!" Monokuma teased.  
"WHAT? You punk! I'll kill you!" Kuwata shouted.  
"But anyway I'll be back explaining everything when 'he'wakes up. I hate repeating myself."  
**_"I see what you mean."_ Asahina said. "_That first murder took a lot out of him. All of us were afraid he would never recover."_  
_"And the scary part is, it could have been worse."_  
_"How? How could it have possibly been any worse?"_  
_"Well, imagine if Maizono's plan had worked. And she had successfully murdered Kuwata. What would have happened?"_  
_"We would have had to figure out that she had done it, and then vote for her to be executed."_  
_"Naegi gets put in an impossible position. Save himself and rest of us, or keep his promise to Maizono and let her get out."_  
_"Oh no."_  
_"Indeed."_  
_"Kirigiri, I know this is horrible to contemplate, but why do you think Maizono attempted to murder and frame Kuwata of all people? Why not murder Naegi straight up?"_  
_"She couldn't bring herself to murder Naegi himself. And Kuwata himself made an easier target."  
"What? A future-professional athlete was an easier target than Naegi? I don't follow."  
"Kuwata was an aspiring musician. He wanted to end his baseball career so he could become a professional musician."_  
_"And so he would have jumped at the chance to do something with Maizono."_ Asahina finished.  
_"I do. You see, **she** couldn't exactly get Naegi out if she murdered him, could she?"  
"What? How could she do that? The class trial would have either executed her or Naegi and the rest of us."  
"We have the benefit in hindsight in the case, but I think Maizono thought she might have the leverage needed for the two of them to get out if she successfully completed a murder."  
"Why?"  
"Well, I think that's where her rational thinking ended."  
"I see. And why do you think Maizono wanted to get herself and Naegi out."  
"Yes. If Maizono couldn't get herself out, she wanted to make sure Naegi got out at least."  
"What makes you say that?"  
"Do you remember how Monokuma said he knew what Maizono's last words were?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, after the first trial, I went and asked him."  
"And what were they?"_  
_**"I'm sorry. Naegi, you made a promise to me that we would get out. I realize now that I was never going to leave, but at least you'll still have a chance. L-E-O-N. I hope that's enough for you to figure it**_**_ out_. _Good luck_. _I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this in person._"****  
_"_**_Wait, a minute, Kirigiri. I got something. How could Monokuma see Maizono if there aren't any cameras in the bathrooms? Are you lying?"_  
_"No, I'm not. I asked him how he knew. Monokuma** said** that he had cameras hidden in the walls that he could reveal and watch the events unfolding."  
"Ack. How did we know he didn't pull them up while we were in the showers!"_ Asahina squicked.  
_"The steam would have fogged up the lenses."_  
_"Really?"_  
_"Yeah, and I'm sure it was the same thing with the baths."  
__"What makes you say that?"  
"Well, Monokuma said he knew about Alter Ego from the start and was just toying with us. So unless he was lying, then that's the only other plausible explanation."  
"I see."  
"Kirigiri, do you think he'll ever get over Maizono's death?"  
"No. He told me so himself. And do you remember that I saved Naegi that night from the mastermind?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, I stood guard over him for the rest of the night to make the mastermind didn't come back."  
"What? Why?"  
"If I left, what was stopping the mastermind from simply trying again?"  
"I see your point. And..."  
"Well, Naegi spent that night muttering in his sleep basically two things."  
"And what were they?"  
"Regret over Maizono's death, and 'My goal is not to leave this place, not to stay here."  
"Oh no." _Asahina clasped a hand to her mouth. "_Do you think his mind was regaining some of the lost memories?"  
"It's certainly possible. Asahina, it's late. Why don't you get some sleep?"  
"What about you?"  
"I'm going to stay up a little while longer and keep watch. I'm too amped up as it is."  
_Asahina closed her eyes and went to sleep, and Kirigiri spent her guard time keeping her ears open, and her eyes on Naegi and his sister.

-  
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